The present invention relates to the use of lysozyme gene structures in plants for increasing the resistance of plants to fungi and animal pests.
A large proportion of the world's harvest of crop plants is constantly destroyed by pests (in 1967, the potential crop loss was 35%; cf. Chemistry of Pesticides, edited by K. H. Buchel, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1983, page 6). There is therefore an urgent demand to research into, and utilize, all possible means which are suitable for reducing, or preventing, the infestation of crop plants with pests.
Patent application WO 89/04371 describes the transformation of plants having specific lysozyme genes for increasing the resistance to specific bacteria.